outstand

American  

[aut-stand] / ˌaʊtˈstænd /

verb (used without object)

outstood, outstanding

1. to be prominent.

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verb (used with object)

outstood, outstanding

1. to stay or remain beyond.

   to outstand the hour.

outstand British  

/ ˌaʊtˈstænd /

verb

1. (intr) to be outstanding or excel

2. (intr) nautical to stand out to sea

3. archaic (tr) to last beyond

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Usage

What does outstand mean? To outstand is to stay or remain beyond, as in Mattie outstood the rain during the long hike and managed to reach the end. To outstand is also to be prominent or surpassing. When you outstand someone else, you are more prominent, conspicuous, or striking than the other person (go, you!). You might outstand someone in terms of social status, physical size, beauty, charisma, or anything else you might compare people about. Example: Mateo really outstood at the competition tonight.

Etymology

Origin of outstand

First recorded in 1565–75; out- + stand

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

outstand outstanding outstood

Bad press notices and the lack of any outstand ing talent other than Clark & McCullough put Here Goes the Bride into the past tense.

From Time Magazine Archive

Would the foundations of the house outstand it?

From Sir Gibbie by George MacDonald

I want to thank the Corona Police Department and the men and women of FBI Los Angeles for their outstanding work.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 21, 2026

It had 849 million shares outstanding as of Sept. 30, compared with 1.2 billion at the end of 2023.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 20, 2026

According to the latest figures up to 30 September, external, 1,643 outstanding cases of bereavement or death in service are more than 100 days old.

From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2026

One lists his apparent strengths, saying he is an outstanding defensive coach with a “relentlessness and desire to prove himself.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

So long as the underlying bonds remained outstanding, both buyer and seller of credit default swaps were obliged to post collateral, in response to their price movements.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

This was most unjust, for Cadet Wilson outstood in baseball and lacrosse as well as football.

From Time Magazine Archive

The fig-tree here mentioned was blessed with the application of means, had time allowed it to receive the nourishment; but it outstood, withstood, overstood all, all that the husbandman did, all that the vine-dresser did.

From Works of John Bunyan — Volume 03 by John Bunyan

They have outstood centuries of raging storm and rending earthquake.

From The Splendid Idle Forties Stories of Old California by Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton

I have outstood my time; which is material To the tender of our present.

From Cymbeline by William Shakespeare

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